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Emmerdale Farm in 1986
1986 was Emmerdale's 15th year. Storylines included the birth of Robert Sugden shortly before the death of his mother Pat in a car accident, Joe Sugden's relationship with Karen Moore, Matt Skilbeck's arrest following the death of Harry Mowlam, the arrival of Dolly Skilbeck's illegitimate son, Graham Lodsworth, Seth Armstrong being left for dead following an attack by badger baiters and Sandie Merrick's affair with Phil Pearce. 100 episodes were broadcast this year. Production joins the cast as Eric Pollard in September.]] Michael Russell was appointed producer in the summer, taking over from Richard Handford with Episode 1080 (2nd September 1986). Following the decision to make changes to the programme in order to compete with the other soaps at prime time the previous year, 1986 was notable for its increase in dramatic stories. Frazer Hines returned full-time to the role of Joe Sugden in March. The character was paired with Karen Moore, whom brother Jack had begun an affair with two years previously. Their relationship wasn't to last however and ended when Annie Hulley left the serial in August. At the same time, Helen Weir bowed out after six years as Pat Sugden. In real life, Weir had married onscreen husband Clive Hornby in 1984 and upon giving birth to their son, Thomas, this year decided to quit the show in order to focus on motherhood full-time. The character was killed off in a dramatic car crash which would see Jack Sugden dealing with the consequences of his wife's death for the remainder of the year. For Pat's onscreen funeral, the decision was made to bring sister Janie back briefly for the first time since 1974. The character was now portrayed by Lesley Duff and had reverted to her maiden name of 'Harker'. In March, Al Dixon passed away after being taken ill with a stroke the previous September. Dixon's final episode as recurring Woolpack customer Walter had aired the previous December and the last time cast saw him was at the 1,000 episodes luncheon the previous November. Additions to the cast for this year included Peter Alexander as Phil Pearce and Christopher Chittell as Eric Pollard. Initially, Chittell was only required to appear in a handful of episodes but found himself reappearing regularly in the show and eventually became a permanent cast member. To date, he is the longest serving actor still appearing in the show. For the first time since 1977, Emmerdale Farm did not take a summer break and remained onscreen all year round. Episodes Main Cast Storylines January *Jackie Merrick has relationship problems with Sita Sharma. He waits for her outside her home one night and sees her saying goodnight to another man. Jackie confronts her and calls her a derogatory name, so she slaps him. They both decide their relationship is over. *Jack Sugden and Pat Sugden go for a scan and their baby is fine. They are told they are having a boy. When they tell Jackie, he is not interested as he is still upset about his break up with Sita. *Harry Mowlam carries on his hate campaign against the Skilbecks and Sugdens. He keeps getting drunk in The Woolpack and says he can buy out everyone in the village if he wanted. He is warned to keep quiet by his partner in crime Derek Warner as the police are widening the search for suspects and witnesses regarding the robbery. Matt Skilbeck notices some of Mowlam's sheep are neglected. He takes them away for care but 3 of them die in Matt's care. Mowlam is livid and wants compensation. Mowlam hounds Matt's wife Dolly Skilbeck and gives her another fright by making a pass at her. Matt is aghast and is being pushed to breaking point by Mowlam. The next day, Mowlam is caught rustling some of Matt's sheep. Matt tries to stop him driving away by hijacking the truck. The truck crashes and Mowlam drags Matt from the truck and savagely beats Matt up, and even tries to kill him by having him in a bear hug. Matt retaliates and squeezes Mowlam's neck to get free. Mowlam then falls down the river bank and vows to get even with everyone in the village who he feels has crossed him. *The day after Matt's fight with Mowlam, Matt is bruised and hurt but feels in a happier mood as he thinks he finally stood up to Mowlam. Henry Wilks goes for his morning walk and finds a badly injured Mowlam by the river bank. Henry gently turns Mowlam onto his back and Mowlam then dies in front of Henry. Henry quickly alerts the police. Matt is shocked when he is told that Harry Mowlam is dead. He hands himself in and faces tough questioning. The police know Matt had several run ins with Mowlam, and that his wife suffered a miscarriage because of Mowlam, meaning Matt had motive to kill him. Matt explains that when Mowlam had him in a bear hug that he grabbed his neck to get free. The police think that after the fight, Matt went down the bank and held him underwater for what he did to his wife and their baby. Matt is charged with Harry Mowlam's murder. February *The whole villagers are in shock that Matt has been charged with murder. However no one is sad to hear that nasty Harry Mowlam is dead. Alan Turner says that Mowlam died as he lived, by the sword, and the villagers should be pleased that he is now dead. Alan now is hankering after Mowlam's Farm. The autopsy says that Mowlam died by drowning, as well as contusions to the neck and throat. Jack, Henry and Jackie raise the money for Matt's bail. Matt is unsure if he killed Mowlam as he had a blackout after the fight. Henry takes Matt to where he had the fight, and he says he found Mowlam's body 20 yards away, meaning it is unlikely that a temporarily delirious Matt dragged a heavy man all that way down stream then killed him. Mat is sure his problems are over when he tells the polcie this, and while Ian MacArthur believes Matt, MacArthur's boss DS Webb says Matt is lying or has bad memory and he still killed Mowlam. March April May June July August September October November December Who lives where to be added Awards and Nominations to be added Category:1986 Category:Emmerdale year-by-year